Julius Thomas contract breakdown: Jaguars structure reasonable deal

The Jacksonville Jaguars signed free agent tight end Julius Thomas to a massive deal in the offseason, to the tune of five-years, $46 million and with $24 million guaranteed. The deal of course was met with a lot of criticism about over paying a tight end who has only been good with Peyton Manning at quarterback, but the way the Jaguars structured the deal is pretty smart.

For the first season, the Jaguars will pay out $18.2 million in the first season in cash, thanks to a $6 million signing bonus, but his cap hit for the first season is just $10.3M.

Here's how his contract breaks down going forward.

Like most of the other contracts handed out by general manager Dave Caldwell during his tenure, the Julius Thomas deal is essentially a two year deal, with minimal dead money after the 2016 season. So, that means if Thomas is just a complete bust in free agency, the team can release him prior to the 2017 season for a cap savings of close to $5 million.